SPORTS SHORTS 186: NESTHY PETECIO GOES FOR THE GOLD AGAINST JAPANESE SENA IRIE, CARLO PAALAM TRIES FOR THE BRONZE VERSUS SHAKHOBIDIN ZOIROV OF UZBEKISTAN
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 03 Aug 2021
Nesthy Petecio will fight tooth and nail to seize another gold medal for the Philippines in the Tokyo Olympics that has already been unmatched.
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Home favorite Japanese Sena Irie will be fighting atop the ring as she also targets the women's featherweight championship. The 21-year-old Japanese will be aiming to please her compatriots, and also becoming just the third Japanese in history to win a boxing gold.
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Takao Sakurai won the men's bantamweight gold medal in 1964 at the first Olympics in Tokyo, and Ryota Murata won the middleweight gold in the 2012 London Games.
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Petecio has the chance to become the first boxing gold medalist in the Philippines after the silver medals won by Anthony Villanueva in 1964 Tokyo Games and Mansueto "Onyok" Velasco in 1996 Atlanta Games .
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Petecio has to go through the proverbial eye of the needle as she fought on her way to the finals against some world-renowned opponents. Irie's journey to the finals is not threatened with much hazards and risks.
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Petecio booted out in the round of 16 the world's No. 1 Lin Yu-Ting of Chinse Taipei, who was chosen by the Associated Press (AP) as the most likely Olympic gold medalist. In the quarterfinals, Petecio got a revenge on her tormentor in the 2018 World Championships, Yeni Arias Castaneda of Colombia.
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Irie is 2-1 against Petecio after she beat the Filipino by split decision at the Asia and Oceania Olympic Boxing Qualifiers in Amman, Jordan in March 2020 and in the 2019 ASBC Asian Confederation Boxing Championships in Bangkok, Thailand.
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Petecio’s only victory against Sena was a 4-1 split decision in the quarterfinals of the 2019 AIBA World Championships in Russia where the Davao del Sur native brought home the gold medal.
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The two lady fighters will clash this time for the more prestigious reward at stake, the quintessential Olympic gold.
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Carlo Paalam shoots for a podium finale as he resumes his Olympic medal quest Tuesday at the Kokugikan Arena in Tokyo, Japan. Blocking his way is 2016 Rio Olympic flyweight gold medalist Shakhobidin Zoirov of Uzbekistan, who also won the gold medal in the 2019 World Championships before turning pro.
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Zoirov also swept with a score of 5-0 against Daniel David Varela dela Pina of Cape Verde in their round of 16 match in the flyweight division. He defeated Batuhan Ciftci of Turkey also by 5-0 in the round of 32.
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Paalam is not at all fazed by his foe's credentials. "We both have fists, we both trained. It will come down to confidence, strategy and self-belief," he told ESPN. "(Zoirov) is very good and an Olympic champion. But I'll give it my best."
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Shakhobidin Zoirov defeated Mikhail Aloyan of Russia by unanimous decision in the gold medal match at the 2016 Olympic Games. He defeated Amit Panghal of India at the 2019 World Championship.
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Zoirov made his professional debut on April 5, 2019 against Indonesian Anthony Holt, scoring a knockout victory in the first round.
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His second fight was on May 18, 2019 against Georgia's Mishiko Shubitidze. Zoirov knocked his opponent down twice for a first-round technical knockout victory.
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He next faced Sandeep Singh Bhatti of India on July 12, 2019. Zoirov won via unanimous decision over four rounds and it was his first time he let his foe last the distance.
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Shakhobidin Zoirov
Age 28
Stance southpaw
Height 5′ 6½″ (169cm)
Reach 67″ (170cm)
Residence Kagan, Uzbekistan
Birth place Kagan, Uzbekistan
Amateur record 98-26-0 with 4 knockouts
Professional record 3-0 with 2 knockouts.
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Carlo Paalam
Age 23
Stance orthodox
Height 5′ 4″ (162cm)
Residence Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental, Philippines
Birth place Bukidon, Philippines
Amateur records 34-11-0 with 1 knockout
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Paalam was discovered in 2009 after winning in the Boxing at the Park tournament and was trained under Cagayan de Oro's boxing program. Paalam then joined the Philippine national team in 2013 and began competing in the international tournaments.
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He took home bronze medals both at the AIBA Youth Asian and World Championships in 2016, and at the Asian Games in 2018. He seized the gold medals in the ASTANA/President's Cup in Kazakhstan in 2017, 10th AIBA International Boxing Tournament, and 1st Thailand International Boxing Tournament in 2018.
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In 2019, he took home his first Southeast Asian Games gold medal at the 2019 Southeast Asian Games which was held in the Philippines.
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Carlos Yulo narrowly missed a podium finish as he placed fourth in the artistic gymnastics men’s vault final at Ariake Gymnastics Center. He scored an average score of 14.716 to place fourth behind bronze medalist Artur Davytan of Armenia who finished with a score of 14.783.
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South Korea’s Shin Jeahwan won the gold medal with a score of 14.783 while the Russian Olympic Committee’s Denis Abliazin bagged the silver also at 14.783 but lost in a tie breaker.
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Sprinter Kristina Knott ended her first Olympic stint as she failed to qualify for the women's 200m semifinals after finishing at fifth and last place in her heat with a time of 23.8 seconds. Twenty-four runners advanced to the semifinals - the top three from each of the seven heats and the next three fastest finishers.
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With preliminary round play completed, FIBA (International Basketball Federation) conducted the draw for the Tokyo Olympics men’s basketball medal round quarterfinals Sunday night, and the result had the U.S. Olympic Men’s Basketball Team (2-1) facing Spain (2-1) on Tuesday, August 3.
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Other August 3 quarterfinals pairings announced included Australia (3-0) versus Argentina (1-2); France (3-0) versus Italy (2-1) and Slovenia (3-0) versus Germany (1-2).
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Four teams were eliminated from the medal round, including Czech Republic (1-2), Iran (0-3), Japan (0-3) and Nigeria (0-3).
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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